


Once a Triplet

by CanvisArt15



Category: Disney Duck Universe, DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Complete, Fanfiction, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, Triplets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanvisArt15/pseuds/CanvisArt15
Summary: Louie thought it would be another normal day in Duckburg, until Huey goes missing while chasing a conspiracy, so it's up to Dewey and Louie to push aside their own insecurities to save him. Or maybe he'll save them. Who knows?
Kudos: 49





	Once a Triplet

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been a collaboration made possible by @ The-writer-girl-nerd on Tumblr and ReeReeWithAngst on Fanfiction.net . Follow my Tumblr @ Multifandom-miracle and my writing blog @ just-writing-things.

It had been a quiet day in Duckburg, which was not a good thing. It meant the other shoe was going to fall. It meant something was going to happen. Something bad. Something... Dangerous. And sure, the rest of his family thrived on danger, but for Louie, he would prefer a little less catastrophe. So, even though it should have been a quiet, lazy Saturday, he was anxious. Waiting for something to go wrong.

Then the question, posed by Della, "Where's Huey?" The other shoe fell.

Dewey shrugged as his other brother joined him and their mom in the foyer of Scrooge's mansion.

"Probably organizing his Junior Woodchuck guidebooks in alphabetical order or something." Dewey guessed as he headed towards the stairs to grab his video camera from their room.

Louie waved off Della's comment as well, following Dewey upstairs and cornering him when they were alone.

"Should we maybe worry about where Huey is? Maybe something is going on?" He didn't want to jump to conclusions or start panicking immediately, but it had been so quiet. And quiet never ended well.

"Why?" Dewey asked, pushing the door to their room open. "I'm sure he's....."

Dewey stopped in his tracks. The room was a mess, books and comics all over the floor, the blankets untucked, and a picture of the Duck family on the floor, the frame cracked and splintered. 

"Fine?" Dewey finished, a warble of uncertainty in his voice. He didn't notice Huey's hat, crumpled on the floor, no sign of its wearer in sight.

"Yeah," Louie said, eyes wide and horrified, picking up the hat and waving it in the air, "I'm sure he's fine." Sarcasm dripped from his voice, masking the fear.

Dewey took the hat from his brother. "Huey never goes anywhere without this! Where do you think he is?"

"If I had any idea where Huey was then we would already be there, looking for him! The only one who has any idea where Huey is is Huey." Louie went to the closet and pulled down Huey's conspiracy board, a few red threads hanging loose. He studied the board a little longer and made a guess.

"Uh, maybe the marina? Or the Beagle Boys' hideout. Or maybe Funzo's. I could be, might be... Definitely, probably am wrong..." He doubted himself more when he was anxious, and this definitely made him anxious. His brother could be seriously hurt or worse.

"Hey, don't panic. We'll find him!" Dewey reassured his brother enthusiastically. Actually, Dewey was just as anxious as his younger brother was, though he didn't like to show it.

"Find who?" Another bright voice asked, making the two boys jump. Webby rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, clasping her hands behind her excitedly with stars in her eyes, ready for another adventure.

"Huey is missing. The room is a wreck and nothing is okay," Louie said, "And we can't tell Mom or Uncle Donald because they'd freak out."

"Wait, what? Wouldn't they want to help find him?" Webby stopped bouncing, a confused look on her face.

"I just... If we can't find him today, we'll let them know,." Louie suggested.

"Oh. Okay, well let's get searching!" Webby said gleefully as she skipped into the hallway, the boys following behind.

Louie had a feeling she didn't get it. Huey was missing. Someone had probably taken him, there had certainly been some sort of struggle. That wasn't something gleeful. He was glum and quiet as he walked behind her.

Dewey noticed the trudge in his brother's steps and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, a light squeeze reassuring him that they would do this together. "Hey, Webs?" Dewey called down the hall to the bubbly, pink dressed girl.

"This is kind of serious, I mean...Huey might have been kidnapped. This isn't just another adventure, it could be super dangerous!"

"Oh," Webby said, "good point." She sobered up, looking between the brothers.

"But don't worry, guys! We'll find him. Even if something bad happened, it'll turn out okay."

"Thanks, Webby." Louie said quietly.

The three ventured off towards Funzo's Fun Zone. (Where fun is in the zone!)

When they arrived, the place seemed....quieter than usual. It was strange, especially for a Saturday. Not a single server looked their way as the kids made their way to a back table. Louie began to make a flattering comment to a waitress passing by, but she scurried away, squeaking in nervousness.

"This place is dead," Louie muttered, "Something is wrong here. Maybe that's why Huey..." Nothing could happen to his brother. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to Huey. Maybe everything would be fine but his mind rushed to worst-case scenarios. He thought about someone hurting Huey, or worse, and he just felt sick. Huey was his brother and Louie would die to protect him if he had to.

Webby glanced back at the boys, and for the first time, really noticed the grave and anxious look on Louie's face.

"Hey, Lou?"

The young duck wasn't paying much attention. He was too nervous, thinking about whatever could have happened to his oldest brother.

"Louie?"

Louie's head snapped up and he tried to fake a look of, well not confidence but apathy, and yet he couldn't shake his nerves.

"What's up, Webby?"

"You don't....."

Webby tried to choose her next words carefully.

"You know this isn't your fault, right?" she spoke timidly.

Dewey stopped in his tracks.

"Wait, Louie...do you really think that?"

Louie covered his face with one hand.

"No! Of course not! It's just you know if we, if I were a better brother maybe Huey would be with us and not somewhere super dangerous maybe getting chopped into little pieces." Louie should've been paying more attention to Huey, then he would know what was happening. He felt incredibly guilty for seeming apathetic in the past about what happened to his brothers. He cared so much and maybe if he had shown that Huey wouldn't have disappeared alone.

Webby and Dewey looked at each other, not quite sure how to respond to that.

Dewey put a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder, squeezing gently. Webby did the same.

"This isn't going to be like....well like when Mom first came back." Dewey knew that would strike a nerve, but bringing it up even made him wince. He tried to recover his statement, though not very well.

"And that time you were the richest duck in the-"

"Alright, I get it, you don't have to remind me of every mistake I ever made, I don't want to dwell on my past mistakes right now but I'm serious. Huey is missing. It's not my fault, maybe, but I still should've been able to do something and I can't."

"You just gotta look for the right angles, c'mon!" Dewey shook his brother back and forth vigorously. "You can do- I mean dewey it!" the blue triplet chuckled to himself.

Louie removed himself from his brother's grip.

"Alright, let's see. Angles, angles..." He looked around Funzo's.

"Hmmm..."

Louie scanned the zone, looking for each possibility between the workers, the kitchen, the arcade, and the playground, for any pesky foes sneaking around.

He snapped his fingers.

"Okay, Here's the plan. Webs, check the arcade, ship, and ball pit. Pay close attention to the scores of that one pattern game Huey likes to beat everyone at when we come here."

"Got it," Webby gave a thumbs up and rushed into the arcade.

"Dewey, ask the staff members if they've seen Huey, or anyone suspicious. Try to check the kitchen, see if anything weird is going on in there."

"On it!" Dewey replied, slicking a hand over his head, and strutting over towards the tables, singing a beat of "Dewey-dewey-dew" to himself.

Louie stood alone then, looking around, whispering to himself, "And Louie-" He didn't get to give himself a task before he was picked up by his hood and spun around by Ma Beagle.

"The green one! I saw him come in with the blue and pink one, too." Big Time Beagle snickered, rubbing his hands together in evil delight.

"Where are they?" Ma Beagle asked, squinting and looking around. 

"Where's Huey?" Louie squeaked, struggling against Ma Beagle's hold.

"You're not the one who gets to ask questions." Ma Beagle growled. "Boys, find the other two."

Bouncer headed off towards the arcade, Webby just on the other side of the wall. Burger chased after Dewey, right into the kitchen.

"What about me Ma?" Big Time asked impatiently, twiddling his thumbs with an antsy grin.

Ma Beagle rolled her eyes. She knew better than to leave the little green brat alone with her son, as previous events proved Big Time unworthy of the job. She sighed, and rubbed her temple in aggravation.

A loud crash in the kitchen grabbed their attention before Ma Beagle could scold her son. Dewey rolled out of the kitchen, landing flat on his face. He was just about to jump up and make a run for it, but Burger tripped out of the doors, his face covered in pizza sauce and soda. He landed right on the young duck, trapping him.

Ma Beagle smirked, pushing her son off Dewey and grabbing him.

"That's two!" She snarled, as both boys struggled in her grasp.

"Seriously? The Beagle boys?" Dewey rolled his eyes.

"We're not up to anything!" Louie desperately tried to lie, "You're just paranoid because you're old." He got slapped.

"Hey! Don't treat my brother that wa-" Ma Beagle held Dewey's beak shut. Dewey tried to signal to Louie, now afraid for both of them. Hopefully Webby wouldn't get caught and would go get help.

"Quit your yapping!" Ma Beagle snapped.

"Let us go!" Louie fought until he was tied up, his beak also held shut.

The two triplets struggled against the ropes furiously. Dewey's eyes widened as he looked around, trying to figure out where they were. This place seemed familiar, though he couldn't remember why. His breath hitched as they were tied up and left in the dark. The middle child wasn't particularly fond of the dark, especially after the events at Castle McDuck.

Louie began to cry quietly without meaning to, and his tearful state only worsened when Webby was thrown in beside them, also tied up. He'd failed. He was useless and he'd failed. Now his whole family was in danger because he hadn't been able to talk their way out of the problem. This was all his fault.

Dewey noticed his youngest brother's silent cry. His chest ached, wishing he could help, wishing that he could comfort him, that he could do something to make Louie believe in himself. He had no idea where to go from here. Even worse, no one knew where they were. The thought of never seeing Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Donald, Launchpad, Huey or his mom ever again made him sick. Why hadn't they told one of the adults? Dewey felt foolish for thinking they could handle this on their own.

That had been Louie's fault too, his call, his decision, and he was arrogant for making it. To think that they could handle this on their own, save Huey on their own, was idiotic. Louie was good at faking confidence. Somehow, this time, he'd pulled his brother and Webby along and now they were all in terrible danger. He glanced at Webby to see if she could get them out of this but she appeared unconscious, no doubt having given whatever unsuspecting Beagle Boy that had grabbed her one doozy of a fight. Louie panicked when he saw that she was hurt and flinched and fought hard against the bindings, finally giving up and hanging his head, ready to succumb to their demise.

Then he heard a familiar voice. A wonderfully familiar voice.

"The boss said I could take over from here." Huey sounded so confident that the Beagle boys standing guard believed him, until they turned around and saw the red triplet. It didn't matter, though, because Huey shot them each with a tranquilizer gun.

"I don't exactly know what you three are doing here but let's try and get going before someone comes looking for us." Huey untied his brothers and was pulled into a big hug, first by Louie, then by Dewey. Louie only cried harder, this time from relief, as he held onto Huey.

"Whoa, Louie, it's alright! I'm okay, guys." Huey squeezed his brothers tightly.

"What the heck happened to you?" Dewey asked, irritated at first, but overwhelmed with relief that his brother wasn't hurt. "We thought you were kidnapped! Or worse!"

The boys jumped as they heard a groan from Webby, who was still a bit woozy from the fight.

"Well," Huey said slowly, "I was. But, sort of on purpose. I set a trap, trying to get into F.O.W.L. You guys would never believe what I've found but-" Huey looked around nervously, "That's for another time. Webby, hang on to us, we've got to run."

"You couldn't have left a note?!" Louie hissed.

"I did. Did you guys not find it?" Louie facepalmed. They could have avoided this whole thing by looking harder for a note? He could hardly believe it. Another consequence of just rushing in, of pretending to be confident without stopping to think first. He wiped the tears out of his eyes as they ran, not knowing what to do anymore.

"Uh no?! Obviously not!" Dewey groaned, trying his best to hang on to Webby and keep up with his brothers at the same time. Huey gave an exasperated sigh.

"Don't sigh like that," Louie snapped, "we came here to save you. It's not our fault that you ended up saving us."

"Well it's not my fault you guys got captured either!" Huey shot back. That was like a slap in the face to Louie. He bit back tears and was ready to make another sharp remark towards Huey when the boys' exit was blocked by a large rooster with a sharp beak made out of metal.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Louie looked around.

"Huey, I don't think we're in the ball pit at Funzo's anymore." Playing dumb worked about 50% of the time.

"You're darn right! You're in Steelbeak's house now!" The villain cackled.

"This is your house? It's nice but we shouldn't be here. Our Uncle says we're not really supposed to talk to strangers and we're really not supposed to be in your house, so it's really nice to meet you, Mr. Steelbeak, sir, but we've got to get going!" Louie saluted the villain and tried to walk out, acting fully confident.

Huey resisted the urge to facepalm, and tried to play along.

"Um, yeah, according to the JWG, 46% of kidnappings happen by talking to strangers, so...bye!" Huey ducked under Steelbeak's arm, making a run for it, and Louie and Webby, who had recovered save for a bit of a bruised knee and a few scratches, followed suit.

Dewey however....

"Wait a minute, aren't you from the Double O Duck simulation game? But how did you-"

"Dewey come on, we can't talk to strangers!" Louie called, ducking in long enough to grab his brother and drag him away. After that, there was no looking back.

The kids sped towards the bus stop, catching the bus right before the doors shut.

Dewey and Webby watched through the back window as Steelbeak tried to run after them, but was stopped by... Well, they weren't sure who, but Webby could've sworn it was Gandra.

The young ducks slowly climbed the front steps of the mansion, trying to catch their breath.

"You can't just disappear like that," Louie said suddenly, turning on Huey, "We were worried sick. I thought you might be dead!"

"Yeah, but I'm not. I can't believe you didn't see the note! I left it on your daily can of Pep!" Huey crossed his arms as they entered the foyer.

"I didn't see it! I didn't drink Pep today, is that a freaking crime? You should've told us you were gonna go try to be the hero!"

"I didn't try to be the hero, I am. I saved all of you from something that could've been avoided if you'd just tried a little harder to find my note!" Huey spat back.

Louie threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Why did we even try to save you?" But once the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. 

"I'm sorry. Huey, I don't mean that, just... You've got to understand that we were really worried. We lost mom once. I can't lose you too."

Huey stepped back, a strange combination of hurt, guilt, and surprise weighing him down. He clenched his fists.

"Do you think I wasn't worried? When I saw that you guys had been kidnapped? At least I can take responsibility for my actions!" Huey had never been this angry before.

"Alright, both of you just chill out!" Dewey exclaimed, stepping between his brothers.

Huey stepped back and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"You're right. I'm sorry." he said quietly, barely glancing at Louie and opting to stare at the floor instead.

"I said I was sorry," Louie muttered, crossing his arms and hugging himself, "I thought we were doing the right thing, going after you. I'm sorry we didn't find your note. I'm sorry we worried you. Whatever. I'm sorry." He sounded bitter, still, turning and heading upstairs to their trashed room. They'd nearly lost Huey. Louie had already been feeling like a failure. Huey had just made it worse.

Huey groaned and ran a hand through his hair out of frustration.

"After all I do for him," he muttered.

"Whoa hang on a minute," Dewey grabbed his older brother's arm before he could walk off.

"That was a bit harsh Hue." Webby nodded.

"Louie was doing his best. He did get us past Steelbeak after all. We might not have made it home at all if it wasn't for Louie. We were trying to help you. And after what happened with mom? Don't you remember what that felt like?"

Huey stopped. He crossed his arms and nodded solemnly. When they found out what had happened to their mom....Well, he didn't show it, but Huey had taken it pretty hard. He found it more difficult to trust people, even his own family. He became more independent. And when their mother returned, all he wanted to do was prove himself. He was just as good at solving mysteries as his brothers. Even though he couldn't always talk his way out of situations. Not like Louie could.

"I....I didn't think about it like that. I'm sorry Dewey." The brothers hugged. Dewey punched his older brother lightheartedly on the shoulder.

"Thanks, but I'm not the only one you need to say sorry to."

Huey nodded and looked towards the staircase that led up to their room.

Louie was sitting in his room, on his bed, playing with an old toy truck he'd gotten as a little kid. It was one of the few toys he'd had growing up that was his alone. Everything else he'd shared with his brothers, and not just toys, worries, heartbreaks, happiness. They went through all of it together. He understood Huey wanting to prove himself but after everything that they had been through, he couldn't help worry that he was losing his brother. And if he wasn't losing Huey to some secret organization, then maybe he was losing Huey to growing up and growing apart, and that scared him even more.

A knock on the door drew him from his thoughts. Huey gave a sympathetic smile as he entered, rubbing the back of his neck and plucking his hat from the ground.

"Hey Louie."

Louie didn't say anything.

Huey stepped over a pile of books and comics that had half-heartedly been pushed out of the way of the triple bunk. He took a breath, staring at his feet and fidgeting with his hands.

"Look, I need to apologize. I'm sorry I made you worried. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing. I'm sorry I assumed you would be able to follow my plan without any explanation." Huey paused, and looked up at Louie.

"But most of all, I'm sorry I didn't see how much I needed you before."

Louie looked up in shock.

"You... I... What? I failed you. I didn't see your note, I let the others get captured, hurt even, I couldn't protect them or you. You don't need me..."

"What are you talking about? Louie, of course I need you! If I had brought you with me, maybe I could have avoided getting you guys captured in the first place. I can't do everything you can, you're the only person I know who can act dumber than the bad guys and still outsmart them!" Huey seated himself next to his youngest brother, gently putting his arm around Louie.

"You're my brother, I'm always gonna need you."

Louie smiled a little, leaning into the hug, "Thank you. I'm always going to need you too."

"Awww guys!" Dewey jumped onto Louie's bed with arms spread wide, knocking the triplets over. The three laughed, with an unspoken promise to never abandon each other again, and the knowledge that they would always be there for each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Louie written by ReeRee, Dewey written by me. The rest was a joint effort in addition to editing.


End file.
